Imphal, Jun 7: The ongoing 30-hour general strike in Jiribam in connection with the demand for the upgradation of Jiribam sub-division to a full-fledged revenue district has affected the flow of traffic along National Highway 53 and normal life in the area.
The general strike that began midnight Monday and set to expire on June 8 has been called by Jiribam District Demand Committee.
Jiribam is a subdivision under Imphal East district but situated on the Mani-pur-Assam border which is some220 kilometres from the state capital Imphal.
The Committee has also imposed an economic blockade on National Highway 53 for five days beginning 7pm of June 11 to 7 pm of June 15 in order to intensify its demand.
The ongoing general strike has paralyzed businesses and thrown normal life completely out of gear in Jiribam town which is located about 220 km from Imphal. All inter-district passenger busses to and from Jiribam and private vehicles have been suspended during the stir while schools, colleges and Government offices remained shut, said a source from Jiribam.
Freight trucks ferrying essential goods into the State have been stranded in and around Jiribam town area as State and Central security forces kept high vigil in the area anticipating untoward happenings, the source added.
However, there is no report of any unwanted incidents in the ongoing 30-hour general strike that will go ontill June 8.
The Jiribam District Demand Committee was formed in 2006 to demand the upgradation of the sub-division to a full-fledged revenuedistrict by carving it out from the existing Imphal East district.
The sub-division is a multi-community settlement with Meitei, Meitei Pangal (Muslim), Bengali and ethnic tribals inhabiting and co-existing.
The district demand committee has also imposed a five-day economic blockade on National Highway 53 beginning 7 pm of June 11 to 7 pm of June 15.
Significantly, on June 3 about 400 students drawn from various schools in Jiribam had taken to the street on the same issue in a rally organized bythe Jiribam branches of All Manipur Students' Union (AMSU), Manipur Stu- dents' Front (MSF) and De-mocratic Students' Asso- ciation of Manipur (DESAM).
A series of bandh have been imposed since the demand for a full-fledged rev- enue district for Jiribam star-ted in 2006. May 30, 2011 was the deadline set by the government with the chief minister O Ibobi Singh and Jiribam MLA Th Devendra assuring positive response to the demand.
With no response forthcoming from the government's side, on June 1 a sit-in protest was staged in Jiribam under the aegis of the district demand committee. (SANGAIEXPRESS)
30 Hr strike chokes Jiri, blockade in store
